Monday 19 December 2011

In the Loop Review

I heard about this movie on Twitter.  Someone I follow asked about good movies and someone tweeted this as a recommendation.  I investigated and saw it was a UK comedy that was nominated for a writing Oscar.  Being who I am, I had to see it.  And I also felt that Karl would like it.  While I think he enjoyed it more than me, neither of us was disappointed.  The easiest way to describe this film is it is what would have happened if Ricky Gervais had made the West Wing.  It has such a good mix of subtle and in your face humour that you find yourself at least smiling all the time at the situations.  But you also really have to pay attention because the entire film is very dialogue based.  There is little to no reliance on physical or context humour.  Everything in the movie seems very plausible.  It is really what would happen if the British and US governments were run by a bunch of smart asses.

Overall, this movie is very sound technically.  I already mentioned it was nominated for an Oscar.  And, given its reliance on dialogue, the writing has to be rock solid to hold the viewers' interest.  It is also very well acted.  From the main characters to the ones that are only on the screen briefly, they all provide strong performances with nobody really standing out and dominating.  It is very much an ensemble piece. That makes it seem even more real because the characters are all supposed to be "behind the scenes" members of the government.  Sadly, though, in trying to capture the realism, they decided to go with shaky camera work in an attempt to make you feel like you are moving with them.  When will film makers realize that this simply does not work.  The viewers' eyes cannot anticipate where the camera is going to move and adjust accordingly like it does in real life.  The only result is irritation and nausea for most people.

But, that's really the only drawback of the film.  See it.  It is a very well done piece of intelligent humour.

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